W. H. Burford and Sons was a soap and candle-making business founded in Adelaide, Australia in 1840 by William Henville Burford (1807–1895), an English butcher who arrived in the new colony in 1838. It was one of the earliest soap makers in Australia and, up to the 1960s when it closed, the oldest.
In 1878, Burford took his two sons, Benjamin and William, into partnership as W. H. Burford & Sons. The expansion of the company, in the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, at the hands of son William Burford, accompanied by a number of takeovers, made it the dominant soap manufacturer in South Australia and Western Australia. Its founders were noted public figures in the young city of Adelaide.
W. H. Burford and Sons was in turn taken over by J. Kitchen & Sons, which became Lever & Kitchen, part of the British Lever Brothers empire, which in 1930 merged with Dutch Margarine Unie to form the multi-national Unilever.
W. H. Burford and Sons Factories W. H. Burford's first factory was on the corner of Grenfell Street and East Terrace, later the site of an Adelaide Electric Supply Company building.
Initially, the factory was little more than a tin shed in a vacant field. During one of the recessions that faced the colony, to keep the business running, Burford was forced to sell the land and lease it back.
The second factory, opened in 1900 at Sturt Street, previously owned by competitor Tidmarsh & Co,Messrs W. H. Burford & Co's (sic) Jubilee The Advertiser 4 November 1890 p.6 accessed 8 July 2011 occupied 4 acres of floor space (19,000 sq yards / 16,000m2 / 1.6 hectares ) and employed over 200 men. Its most salient feature was the brick chimney – 152 ft 4in (46.5m) in height, with a flue diameter of 4 ft (1.2m), which is still standing although no longer used. The boiler room housed four boilers, one of which was 27 ft long and 7 ft 6in in diameter (8.2m x 2.3m) and the largest built in South Australia. The still-room had six large stills: four for distillation of stearine and two for glycerine. The building was organised so that manufacture started on the top floor and progressed by chutes or conveyors to the second floor for wrapping and packaging, and thence to the ground floor, all with a minimum of handling.An Immense Industrial Concern South Australian Register 9 June 1900 p.4 accessed 5 July 2011 The smell emanating from the Sturt Street factory, despite installation of deep drainage, was the source of much complaint from neighbours.
In 1887, Burfords took over Apollo Soap Ltd of Adam Street, Hindmarsh. The factory, which continued to be called the "Apollo Works", was the site of work mostly peripheral to the core business of soap and candle making, such as rendering down of animal fats and grinding of corn, bone, starch and blacking, and the manufacture of wooden packing crates. In 1888, they took over Frearson's Printing Works, whose factory was also on Adam Street. Those premises were destroyed by fire on 25 December 1907.
In February 1919, the Sturt Street premises were destroyed by fire. Rather than rebuild in the city, a new factory was set up in Dry Creek near the railway station, where there had once been a smelter. Manufacture resumed in 1922.
Much was made at the time of a model suburb to serve employees of the soap works and the nearby abattoirs. "Burford Garden Suburb" as it was named, was designed by W. J. Earle, the town planner behind Cadbury's model town at Claremont, Tasmania. The Dry Creek lots were snapped up immediately they were offered for sale. The greater part of the Sturt Street property was sold around the same time."Burford Gardens" as the name of a suburb has since vanished, though its streets remain: Flame Avenue, Gum Avenue, Wattle Avenue, Grevillea Avenue and Bushwood Avenue, all in what is now known as the suburb of Dry Creek.
In Western Australia, the Victoria Park factory opened in 1897. After taking over the Swan Soap and Candle Company Ltd., the Rocky Bay factory opened in 1899,Popular Laundry Soaps The West Australian 8 June 1933 p.7 accessed 8 July 2011 and Kalgoorlie factories opened later.
In 1924 Burford's merged with rival soap makers J. Kitchen and Sons of Melbourne and Lever Brothers of Sydney as Australian Producers Co-Partnership Ltd. In 1928 Kitchen's Fremantle factory was destroyed by fire, and Burford's was able to make up the shortfall by manufacturing to Kitchen specifications, the product being wrapped, packed and distributed by the Kitchen factory. This opened the way for further rationalization, and by 1937 all Burford factories were under the control of J Kitchen & Sons. In 1932 Associated Producers became Associated Enterprises Pty Ltd, renamed Lever Associated Enterprises Pty Ltd in 1944. By 1948 production by Burfords in Adelaide had been wound down and in 1957 Unilever (Australia) bought out W. H. Burford & Sons.
Products Products manufactured during the history of W. H. Burford & Sons include: Soaps: "Burford's Prize No 1" soap, "Signal" soap, mottled soap, yellow soap, transparent soap, White Naptha soap, Apollo laundry soap in various sized bars, Borax soap, "Sayso" carbolic family soap, "Snowflakes" extract of soap powder, Dr Bayley's medicated soap, sulphur soap, White Dove soap, and kerosene soap (foliage spray for controlling insects) "Exhibition" candles, carriage candles, bedroom candles, piano candles "Brunswick" stove blacking "Excelsior" blacklead Linoleum polish ("Roylat" brand in Western Australia) Boot polish, boot cream "Swansdown" starch Soda crystals Magic Egg Preserver (waterglass) "Southern Sky" washing blue Snow-white starch Lubricating oilsManufacture of Oil South Australian Register Tuesday 29 November 1892 p.7 accessed 5 July 2011 Greases Bone manure
Public nuisance When Burford's soapworks and Peacock's tannery were founded on Grenfell Street, there were no residences nearby; nothing but virgin bushland. But as the population grew nearby (and to some extent attracted by the businesses), the number of complaints about smells grew until, in 1866, a case was brought against Burford in the Supreme Court. The jury appeared to be convinced by the argument that the complainants had chosen to build knowing what trades were carried on there so had no right to complain, and found for the defendant.Supreme Court South Australian Register 8 September 1866 p.3 accessed 7 July 2011
The Council had other plans. In 1919 it offered Burfords £12,000 as an incentive to move out of the city altogether. The offer was turned down, so the Council amended the Health Act to prohibit such industries, then the fire engulfed the factory and the Dry Creek facility moved a big step towards reality.
Fires In 1885 a fire which started in a timber yard in Grenfell Street and East Terrace spread to Burford's factory, which was destroyed. This led to the establishment of a factory in Sturt Street.Mr. W. Burford – a Large-Hearted Citizen The Register 7 March 1925 p.13 accessed 4 July 2011
On 25 December 1907, the factory on Adam Street, Hindmarsh, "The Apollo Works" was destroyed in one of the greatest fires in Adelaide's history, along with neighbouring skin dealers Wilcox and Co. in Torrens Street (now named River Street). The nearby factory of G. H. Michell & Sons and David Reid's tannery suffered lesser damage.Parsons, Ronald Hindmarsh Town Corporation of the Town of Hindmarsh, South Australia, 1974
In 1919 the works bounded by Sturt, Gilbert, Norman and Russell Streets in the city were destroyed by fire and a new factory was then set up in Dry Creek; the office area was rebuilt and the rest sold.
Competitors Other early soap and candle makers of South Australia included: J. H. M. Hawkes J. Tidmarsh & Co. Walker Brothers Apollo Soap and Candle factory at Adams Street, Hindmarsh. (est. 1881) was taken over by W. H. Burford. Bunyip Soaps (1898 – ca.1955) had a factory at Winwood Street, Southwark, and became Crompton Bunyip Soaps Ltd. (c. 1955 – c. 1991) It was still trading in 1962 with offices at 49 Flinders Street, Adelaide, and factory at Winwood St, Thebarton.Sands & McDougall's Directory, 1962 ed. p.1633
The other major Australian soap manufacturer was J. Kitchen & Sons of Melbourne, which dominated the Eastern States much as Burfords had dominated South and Western Australia. Lever Brothers of England had a factory in Sydney and one in Wellington, New Zealand.
Merger and Acquisition In 1924, Lever and Kitchen and W. H. Burford & Sons formed Australian Producers Partnership Pty Ltd. Burford ordinary shares were held by Lever and Kitchen; around 1962 after a few more takeovers the parent company was renamed Unilever. The Burford's factory was still running profitably in the mid-50s, and the factory at Dry Creek was still listed as such in 1962; the office at 83 Sturt Street still bore the Burford's name, alongside that of its nominal owner J. Kitchen & Sons Ltd, Rexona Pty. Ltd. and Lever Brothers Pty. Ltd.
William Burford
William Burford (11 December 1845 – 6 March 1925) was born in a cottage at 154 Grenfell Street, Adelaide,Death of Mr. W. Burford Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) Saturday 7 March 1925 p.5 accessed 4 July 2011 adjacent to his father's factory.
He was educated first at the Church of England Grammar School in Pulteney Street then, with brother Benjamin, at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution in Stephens Place. Leaving school, he joined his father's business. In 1878 he and his brother Benjamin were taken into partnership, but after about eight years the latter withdrew from the enterprise.
In 1868, while on holiday in New Zealand, William visited a soap works which boiled soap using steam rather than fire. On his return to Adelaide he wasted no time in getting his father to adopt this method.
He was chairman of directors of the company from 1895 until his death, in his Belair home (on Sheoak Road) called "Birralee". When he took the reins, the company had 6 employees; at the time of his death it had grown to over 500 spread over several factories, though his time as a hands-on manager had long since passed.
Philanthropy and Public Works William Burford's many offices, services and philanthropic deeds included: Justice of the Peace from 1890 to 1893. For over 60 years he was a member of the council of the Chamber of Manufactures, and served both as president and vice-president. For some years he was a member of the Adelaide Hospital Board, resigning in 1913.Adelaide Hospital The Register 11 April 1913 p.6 accessed 8 July 2011 He was on the committee of the Home for Incurables. He was on the board of the Adelaide Licensing Bench from 1902.Concerning People The Register Thursday 27 March 1902 p.5 accessed 8 July 2011 For 12 years he served as a member of the Unley Council. He was alderman and councillor on the Glenelg Council. He was a vice-president of the Industrial School for the Blind and Royal Institution for the Blind from its foundation, and of the organising committee for its Great Floral Fair. He was treasurer of Adelaide City Mission until 1902. He was on the board of the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society. He was on the board of the Belair Inebriate Retreat. He was a life member of the Adelaide YMCA, and its president from 1914.Current Comment The Mail 7 February 1914 p.8 accessed 8 July 2011 He was, like his father, a lifelong member of the Church of Christ, originally with the Grote Street Church, then Unley and Glenelg, which were established largely due to his generosity. He donated his property in Unley to the Church of Christ, to assist in establishing Ellerslie College, a Church of Christ school for girls at Magill Road, Magill. For over 30 years he supported Church missions to India and China. He was a generous supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society.